Congress Considers Pizza a Vegetable, Pushes Back on USDA School Lunch Proposal

If left up to Congress, pizza and french fries will continue to make appearances on trays in school cafeterias across the country. The Obama administration's proposal to make school lunch programs healthier by curtailing sodium and increasing whole grains, fruits, and vegetables is being challenged by Congress's spending bill, some nutritionists and supporters of the proposal argue. One component of the bill that is often cited: it will allow tomato paste on pizza to be counted as a "vegetable" and prevent more readily available vegetables for kids.

But why would Congress want to stop kids from getting a well-balanced meal? According to the Associated Press, it has a motive: pleasing lobbyists.

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"Food companies that produce frozen pizzas for schools, the salt industry and potato growers requested the changes, and some conservatives in Congress say the federal government shouldn't be telling children what to eat," reports the Associated Press.

In addition to the players that have profited from providing foods for school lunch programs, some schools are opposed to the Obama administration's bill. They claim the new USDA requirements would cost too much to implement. As stated in the AP, "Schools have long taken broad instructions from the government on what they can serve in federally subsidized meals that are served free or at reduced price to low-income children." However, it's often a struggle for schools to follow guidelines and stick to strict budgets.

As a result, House Republicans lobbied for a change to the Agriculture Department's bill, which has ruffled feathers. "We are outraged that Congress is seriously considering language that would effectively categorize pizza as a vegetable in the school lunch program," said Amy Dawson Taggart, the director of Mission: Readiness. While nutrition advocate Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest told the AP, "They [Congress] are making sure that two of the biggest problems in the school lunch program, pizza and french fries, are untouched."

This week the House and Senate will vote on the bill and send it to President Obama. At that point we'll see if the President agrees that two tablespoons of tomato paste are indeed one serving of vegetables.

What's your take? Do you think the USDA's guidelines are appropriate or that Congress has a point?